Hardened metallic plate



2 VSheets-Sheet; 1.

(No Model.)

IJ.H.-GARPBNTER. H'ARDENED METALLIC PLATE.

No. 541,422. Patented June 18, 1895.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-`-Sheet 2.

J. H. CARPENTER. HARDLNLD METALLIC PLATE.

No. 541,422. Patented June 1s, 1895.

IlNrrno STATES PATENT Garten.

JAMES II. CARPENTER, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA. u

HARDENED METALLIC PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 541,422, dated J' une18, 1895.

Application filed March 2l, 1891.

To @ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JAMES HENRY CARPEN- TER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Reading, Berks county, State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Hardened MetallicPlates, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of armor for vessels it has become desirable toincrease the efficiency of the plates by subjecting them to the actionof water, oil, or solutions, which in consequence of the size and weightof the plates must be poured or thrown upon the latter while they arestationary and in a heated condition.

It has been found that the result of such treatment is to warp or twistthe plates to such an extent as to greatly impair their efficiency,while the method of applying the liquid results in hardening the platesunequally, increasing their liability to crack or splinter when struck.Further as the liud is applied to the plates while they rest unconliuedupon suitable supports of the furnace in which the plates are heated, orin the place to which they are moved after heating, there is nothing toresist the tendency of the plates to warp or bend, and when such warpingor bending occurs the plates are hardened in their bent position andcannot afterward be straightened.

I have found that if the plates are combined with supports or bearingsthat will prevent them from twisting when the fluid is applied, butcomparatively little resistance is required to maintain them straightorintheir original shape during the process of hardening, and that thebearings in such case resist the tendency of the plate to warp withoutnecessarily clamping them under any heavy pressure. Different means maybe employed for thus supporting the plates and for affording therequisite bearings, as for instance the apparatus illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a side elevation of theapparatus which I employ in carrying out my improved process. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal sectional elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan in section on theline 3 3, Fig. l. Fig/lis a transverse section on the line 4 4, Fig. l.Fig. 5 is a view illus- Serial No, 385,868. (No model.)

trating one mode of forming the bearings for the plates.

A, represents a plate-to be hardened, which may be an armor plate, a guntrack or other article; and B and C represent the supports for theisolated bearings or contacts, said supports retained in fixed positionsupon opposite sides Vof the plate. Said supports may be horizontal orVertical, of metal or any other suitable material, with ribs, pins, orlugs constituting bearings or contacts, the ends of which are in a planethat conforms to the plane of the face of the plate whether it be flator curved.

To permit the fluid used for hardening or tempering the plate to beapplied with desired rapidity and uniformity to the entire surface ofthe plate, I prefer to make the bearings in such form as to allow thefluid to circulate or travel freely over the surface of the plate andaround or beside the separated bearing points, which are in sucliproximity as to afford the requisite support. To Athis end I provide thesupports with grooves or channels between parallel bearing ribs 't'which grooves as shown, are in the form of transverse parallel channelsor grooves af, closed at the ends but open at the faces opposite theplate, and, if desired, with transverse openings y, whereby each supporthas a continuous edge flange o bearing on the plate A, and a series ofintermediate bearings or contacts i.

To permit the rapid admissiompassage and exit of the fluid, I provide'each channel with an inlet port l, at one end and an outlet port 2, atthe other, the inlet port of one channel being adjacent to the outletportof the contiguous channel, so that the fluid is admitted to thechannels upon opposite sides or edges of the plate, traveling throughthe contiguous channelsin opposite directions,where by it is supplieduniformly over the entire surface of the plate, instead of beingadmitted wholly at one edge and flowing over the whole plate in onedirection toward the opposite edge. By this means the temperature of theplate is quickly lowered over its entire extent with a uniformity whichwould otherwise not be practicable, and the plate is uniformly hardened.

In order to permit the fluid to be rapidly directed to alternatechannels in opposite directions after the supports and plate are inproper position, more especially when the supports are portable orremovable, I make use of supply pipes 3, 3, each with a series oftapering nozzles 4, adapted to tit the tapering ports I, into which theymay be quickly introduced, the taper being of such a character that aslight blow will cause each nozzle to firmly take its seat inthe port;and each pipel 3, is supplied with the fluid through a flexible pipe 5,provided, if desired, with a cock 6. If necessary any suitable lockingmeans may be employed for holding the pipes 3 and their nozzles inproper position during the flow of the fluid. These operations may beperformed upon the plate A, either while the same is in a chamberwherein it has been heated by the flow of suitable hot gases, or theplate may be removed from a heating furnace and placed upon a lowerhorizontal support C, and the upper support then applied and secured inposition, or the plate may be introduced between Vertical supports.

Thile the supports B and C may be secured in position in any desiredpracticable manner I have shown the same as arranged horizontally, thesupport C resting on cross bars 7 and supporting the plate A, the uppersupport D resting upon the plate, and top bars S resting upon thesupport D and confined against the plate by means of the screw bolts 9,passing through slots in the bars S; with nuts l5 confining the bolts inplace or otherwise arranged so as to clamp the plates in position afteradjustment and maintain them in place to prevent any movement of thebearings during the operation upon the plate A. In some cases where theplate A, requires to be subjected to the action of fluid upon one sideonly, achanneled support need be employed only upon that side of theplate where the fluid is to be applied.

The channeled support maybe of metal, cement, or other suitablematerial, and the same may be cheaply and expeditiously made so as tolit the contour of the plate, whatever maybe its shape, by surroundingthe plate (or a pattern corresponding therewith) with a frame 10, Fig.5, so as to form a flange o f requisite depth,and placing upon thesurface of the plate a series of cores 12, parallel to each other, withsufficient intervening space to form the bearings, and then pouringmolten iron, cement, or other molten or plastic material upon the plateand cores, thereby casting the bearings in direct contact with the plateor its pattern. Y

Although I have referred to the supports 6o as consisting each of asingle block having a series of contacts and channels or passagesbetween the same, I use in connection with large or irregular platessupports in two or more sections each in the form of achanneled block,orthe bearings mayconsist of separate bars or plates bearing with theiredges against t the face of the plate A, and each held or clamped orotherwise supported in a fixed position to resist any tendency of theplate 7o A to warp or twist.

In some cases it is desirable to subject the plate to be hardened to theinfluence of fluids of different kinds or different temperatures inwhich case a iiuid of one kind or temperahardening metallic platesconsisting in heating the plate confining it between immovable bearingshaving limited points of eontactf with the opposite sides of the` plate,and passing a cold uid over one surface and a heated fluid over theopposite surface, substantially as set forth. v9o

2. In the manufacture of hardened metallic plates, heating the plate,confiniugit between bearings having limited points of contact with thesurface or surfaces of the plate, and simultaneously passing differentcurrents of hardening duid across said surface or surfaces in oppositedirections from opposite sides or edges, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the channel support having inlet and outletports,and two supply' loo pipes provided with nozzles adapted to thealternate ports at opposite edges and each communicating with a sourceof fluid supply,the said ports being at the ends of the channels and thenozzles entering alternate ports,sub :o5

stantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES H. CARPENTER. Witnesses:

G. P. KRAMER, J. S. BARKER.

